IACSIT International Journal of Engineering and Technology, Vol. 5, No.
4, August 2013
Use of Brick Aggregate in Standard Concrete and Its
Performance in Elevated Temperature
Gopinandan Dey and Joyanta Pal
Abstract—By far the most common coarse aggregate used in
concrete is obtained from natural rock, but type of rock suitable
for concrete making is not available everywhere. In Tripura a
north-eastern state of India brick aggregate concrete are used
conventionally for ordinary concrete due to scarcity of
aggregate from natural source. Due to advancement of concrete
technology and to fulfill the durability requirement it
necessitated to use standard concrete, for which only stone
aggregate is used, as a result, cost of construction has been
skyrocketed as these are transported from other states.
Making good quality concrete with finest sand (grading zone
–IV as per Indian code IS:383-1970) is itself a challenge,
moreover there is unavailability of natural coarse aggregate
locally. Therefore, in this paper a concerted effort has been
made to check the feasibility of use of brick aggregate made of
locally available brick in standard concrete (M25 to M55 as per
IS:456-2000). High water absorption (12% to 20% by mass) of
brick aggregate is a major problem to use it in the actual work,
thus an attempt has been made to suggest a realistic solution for
real field application. An experimental study has been
conducted to check various strength parameters, workability
and fire resistance of brick aggregate concrete. It is observed
that standard concrete can be made with crushed brick
aggregate which are also having very good heat resistance upto
a temperature of 6000C.
Index Terms—standard concrete, brick aggregate, fire
resistance, water absorption.
I. INTRODUCTION
Concrete is produced by mixing cement, sand, coarse
aggregate and water to produce a material that can be molded
into almost any shape. The major volume of concrete is filled
with aggregate. Aggregate inclusion in concrete reduces its
drying shrinkage and improves many other properties.
Aggregate is also the least expensive per weight unit, put it
makes the most amount of the weight. It is costly to transport
so local sources are needed, but due to geographical constraint
this is not available at all places, therefore it necessitates
finding other sources and alternatives from local sources.
In eastern and north eastern states of India and Bangladesh
where natural rock deposits are scarce, burnt clay bricks are
used as an alternative source of coarse aggregate. In these
places of India brick aggregate are traditionally used as coarse
aggregate. The use and performance of concrete made with
broken brick as coarse aggregate are quite extensive and
satisfactory for ordinary concrete. Clay and silt alongwith
Manuscript received February 5, 2013; revised June 6, 2013. This work
was supported by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), a
statutory body of Govt. of India.
The authors are with the Department of Civil Engineering, Natinal
Institute of Technology Agartala, Tripura, India (e-mail:
gopinita@ymail.com, joyantanita@yahoo.com).
DOI: 10.7763/IJET.2013.V5.610
appropriate quantity of sand can be burnt in its natural form as
is done in brick-making and the product may be a source of
coarse aggregate for concrete. Also in brick-making, a large
number of bricks are rejected due to nonconformity with the
required specifications. One such major nonconformity is the
distorted form of brick produced due to the uneven
temperature control in the kiln. These rejected bricks can also
be a potential source of coarse aggregate [1].
Akhtaruzzaman and Hasnat [2] investigated the various
engineering properties of concrete using crushed brick as
coarse aggregate. Khaloo [3] studied the properties of
concrete using crushed clinker brick as coarse aggregate. In
both the above-mentioned studies, investigations were also
done by comparing the properties of brick aggregate concrete
with those for stone aggregate concrete. Rashid et al. [1]
investigated the properties of higher strength concrete with
brick aggregate. On the other hand, studies were done by
Mansur et al. [4] comparing the properties of stone aggregate
concrete with those of equivalent brick aggregate concrete
obtained by replacing stone with an equal volume of crushed
brick, everything else remaining the same.
Cachim [5] studied the mechanical properties brick
aggregate concrete by partial replacement of natural stone
aggregate by brick aggregate and it was found that upto 15%
replacement there is no reduction of strength. Debieb and
Kenai [6] showed that it is possible to produce concrete
containing crushed bricks (coarse and fine) with
characteristics similar to those of natural aggregate concrete
provided that the percentage of brick aggregates is limited to
25 and 50% for the coarse and fine aggregate respectively.
Apart from strength parameter in ambient temperature
Khalaf and DeVenny [7] studied the thermal properties of
brick aggregate concrete and it was found that brick aggregate
concrete perform similar and even better than granite
aggregate concrete in elevated temperature.
II. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE
Notwithstanding extensive use of brick aggregate concrete
in this regions and the apparent satisfactory performance of
the existing structure constructed with brick aggregate
concrete, no systematic investigation was conducted and
properly documented for the brick aggregate found in this
region. In most of the construction upto last decade mostly
nominal mix concrete were used based on perception and
accumulation of experience. With the advancement of the
concrete technology and to fulfill the durability requirement
M25 (28 days characteristic compressive strength 25 MPa
when tested on 150 mm cube) and higher grade of concrete is
generally used in most of the construction now a days, thus
there is a complete shift of trend to the use of stone aggregate
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 IACSIT International Journal of Engineering and Technology, Vol. 5, No. 4, August 2013
instead of brick aggregate in concrete, as there is lack of
experimental study or separate codal recommendation
regarding the use of brick aggregate in standard concrete
(M25 to M55 as per IS:456-2000). Consequently, in recent
days construction cost of the concrete structure increased
manifold. Therefore, a systematic investigation is required
regarding the feasibility of use of crushed brick as aggregate
as the strength of the brick available in this region is much
lower than that used by other previous researchers. High water
absorption of the brick aggregate in the range of 12 to 20% by
dry weight of brick aggregate also causes a serious problem to
use it in the work, though the earlier researchers used SSD
aggregate in their investigation, but in the reality it is not
possible to make the aggregates SSD. Apart from this sand
available locally is also very fine grained having FM value
less than 2.00. Moreover durability is another aspect which is
also greatly emphasized in the present code. In a real structure
temperature may rise to a large extent due to fire, therefore
study on durability against elevated temperature also may be
undertaken.
III. MATERIALS USED IN THE INVESTIGATION
A. Cement
The cement used was ordinary Portland cement (OPC) of
43 grades conforming to IS: 8112-1989.
Fine aggregate
One type of fine aggregate was used throughout the
experimental work so as to keep the fine aggregate variable
constant. The sand was collected from a local small stream
from the flowing water which is generally used in most of
constructions in near vicinity of this stream. The grain size of
sand from all the sources in Tripura is more or less similar.
The sieve analysis was carried out in accordance with IS:
383-1970 for the fine aggregate. The results of the grading fits
within the limits set out in IS: 383-1970 for grading zone –IV,
which is the finest among all the grading zones as per Indian
standard. The fineness modulus of the sand found to be 1.97
and specific gravity 2.43.The silt and clay content of the fine
aggregate is 2%.
B. Bricks
Only one type of unused clay bricks of 240x115x70 mm
working sizes was used in the investigation before the bricks
were crushed down into a coarse aggregate, their uniaxial
compressive strength was recorded for comparison with the
aggregate produced by crushing them down to coarse
aggregate. The compressive strength of the whole brick is
found to be 12.75 MPa.
C. Brick Aggregate
Full bricks were crushed to 40 mm nominal size aggregate
as per Indian code IS: 383-1970, the grading curve for the
same is shown in Fig. 2. It was observed that crushing of
bricks mechanically with jaw crusher produce flaky and
elongated aggregate, so breaking of brick was done manually
with hammer which produced angular aggregate. Tests of
mechanical and physical properties were done on the
aggregates as per IS:2386-1963, it was found that crushing
value of the aggregate 32% and water absorption 13.25% ,
The fineness modulus of the brick aggregate found to be 7.47
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and specific gravity 1.82.
D. Admixtures
A superplasticizing admixture BASF Rheobuild 1100i
(SNF) as per IS:9103- 1999 was added to the mixing water
used, in order to improve workability and to study the effect of
admixtures on the properties of fresh and hardened concrete.
IV. TEST PROGRAM FOR THE EXPERIMENT
A. Mix Design
The basic guideline for mix design of concrete as per the
Indian code IS: 10262-2009 was followed. According to the
codal guideline saturated and surface dry (SSD) aggregates
are used and in case of aggregate either moist or dried
adjustment is done accordingly. Most of the previous
researchers who did the work on brick aggregate used SSD
aggregate, but in real project work it will be next to impossible
to prepare SSD aggregate. If the adjustment is done for very
dry aggregate adding extra water for absorption at that case
total quantity of water in the mix will be higher than the
calculated amount because during the process of setting only
75 to 85% water will be absorbed by the aggregate and
remaining water in the mix will result increase of w/c ratio
because subsequently most of the pores will be sealed by the
matrix and the water will remain within the cement grains. In
consequence of this there will be loss of strength. On the other
hand if the water is mixed for absorption only for the setting
period it will produce a concrete of desired workability in the
fresh state and in some cases decrease of w/c ratio leading to
increased strength. A realistic value of three minute’s water
absorption was taken as standard in this investigation as it was
seen that the rate of water absorption in first few minutes is
very high and then after the curve becomes very flat. Rate of
water absorption of brick aggregate is shown in Fig. 1. Coarse
aggregate and fine aggregate used in the mix was partially
dried and therefore in the calculation of mix design necessary
adjustment was made for fine aggregate.
B. Mixing of Concrete and Workability Test
The 24 h water absorption capacity of the brick aggregate
was 13.25 %, an in situ test of the water absorption for three
minutes were checked and which was found to be 6.5% by
weight of the existing condition of the aggregate, therefore
necessary adjustment was made for these quantity of water.
In Fig. 1 rate of water absorption of dry aggregate has been
presented. For preparing the mix first coarse aggregate and
80% of the total water had been placed in the mixer and
rotated for two minutes to allow the coarse aggregate to
absorb water, then fine aggregate, cement and remaining
quantity of water mixed with admixture were fed in the mixer
and rotated for two minutes more and the mix concrete was
discharged on a metal tray. Slump test was conducted for
measuring the workability of the concrete.
C. Test for Strength of Concrete
6(six) Nos of 150 mm cube were prepared as per the mix
design following the above mentioned procedure for
compressive strength test, moreover 12(twelve) Nos cube of
similar dimension for test of strength at different temperature
and 3(three) Nos prism of 100mm x 100 mm x 500 mm were
 IACSIT International Journal of Engineering and Technology, Vol. 5, No. 4, August 2013

prepared for flexure test. All the samples were kept in the
molds for 24 hours and thereafter those samples were
demolded and placed in the curing tank for 28 days in
ambient temperature. All the samples were taken out of the
curing tank before testing and wiping the surface necessary
test for uniaxial compressive strength was done in a
compression testing machine of 2000 kN capacity. The
flexural tests by two points loading were done in a flexural
testing machine of 100 kN capacity.
to elevated temperatures. Twelve 150 mm test cubes were
taken from each mix for strength tests at different
temperatures. Three cubes for each temperature were used
from each different mix to test for compressive strength. The
test cubes were placed in an electrically operated temperature
controlled furnace and subjected to designate temperatures of
200, 400, 600, and 800°C for a period of 2 h. The cubes were
tested for compressive strength in a digital compression
testing machine of 2000 kN capacity making those cool to the
ambient temperature after removal from the furnace.
Temperature effect on compressive strength of concrete as
originally proposed by Neville is shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 1. Rate of water absorption of brick aggregate

Fig. 3.Temperature effect on compressive strength of concrete [7]

V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Fig. 2. Grading of coarse aggregate
D. High Temperature Test
Concrete is noncombustible and in general as a material has
a good ability to withstand fire. The type of aggregate
influences the response of concrete to high temperature. The
duration reinforced concrete elements in structures last under
a fire are decided by the dimensions of the elements cross
sections and cover to the reinforcements [BS 8110: Part 1
(BSI 1997) and ACI 318 (ACI 2002)].
The high temperature test is designed to determine the
ability and duration of all the concretes produced in this
investigation to maintain compressive strength when exposed
The compressive strength, flexural strength and workability
results for the concretes produced with different w/c ratios are
presented in Table I. From the experimental results of the
strength parameter it is seen that within the limitation of
Indian code provision of maximum cement content 450 kg/m3
upto strength of nearly 40.00 MPa can be achieved easily
which may be corresponding to M30 concrete considering a
standard deviation of 5. On the other hand lower strength such
as M20 and M25 may easily be obtained with much less
quantity of cement. Adequate workability similar to pumpable
concrete can also be obtained with the use of super
plasticizing Admixture. The density of the concrete obtained
is also in the range of 19750 to 20000 N/m3 which is nearly
85% of the concrete prepared from stone aggregate. Flexural
strength achieved is also higher than the Indian code
recommendation of 0.7√fck. The strength of the concrete in
elevated temperature is also presented in Table II. It is
observed that there is a gradual increase of strength of
concrete upto temperature of 6000C thereafter there is a
drastic fall of compressive strength which becomes nearly 60
to 70% of the original 28 days strength.

TABLE I: MIX DETAILS AND STRENGTH OF CONCRETE

W/C Water Cement Coarse aggregate Fine aggregate Superplasticizer Slump Compressive strength Flexural strength
ratio (kg) (kg) (kg) (kg) (kg) (mm) (MPa) (MPa)
0.45 171 380 857 564 3.3 135 28.67 4.40
0.40 171 430 850 534 3.3 125 31.94 4.84
0.35 157 450 870 522 4.5 140 38.72 5.13
0.38 171 450 842 529 3.3 80 39.67 5.60

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TABLE II: STRENGTH OF CONCRETE IN ELEVATED TEMPERATURE

W/C Compressive Strength at Compressive Strength at Compressive Strength at Compressive Strength at Compressive Strength at
ratio 2000C (MPa) 4000C (MPa) 6000C (MPa) 8000C (MPa) ambient temperature (MPa)
0.45 35.74 35.35 36.51 20.38 28.67
0.40 26.40 28.96 35.86 19.03 31.94
0.35 42.95 41.53 43.30 28.23 38.72
0.38 41.35 43.78 41.52 28.23 39.67

[2] A. A. Akhtaruzzaman and A. Hasnat “Properties of concrete using

VI. CONCLUSION
1) Crushed bricks can be used satisfactorily to produce M25
and M30 concrete keeping water cement ratio in the
range of 0.35 to 0.40.
2) Sufficient workability upto the level of pumpable
concrete can also be achieved by suitably using the
superplasticizer within a range of 0.8% to 1% by weight
of cement.
3) Flexural strength also can be obtained as per the codal
requirement and even more.
4) For mix design it is not required to make the aggregate
SSD either by presoaking or providing additional water
for total water absorption, rather water absorption for 3
minutes may be referred as the absorption for dry
aggregate.
5) In high temperature the performance up to 6000 C is even
better than ambient temperature for an exposure period
of 2 hours.
6) Fine aggregate having very low fineness modulus is also
fit for producing standard concrete.
7) Durability aspect of concrete made of brick aggregate
may further be studied for permeability and freeze and
thaw effect.
8) Further study is required for brick aggregate made from
parent brick of different strength.
REFERENCES
[1] M. A. Rashida, T. Hossaina, and M. A. Islam, “Properties of higher
strength concrete made with crushed brick as coarse aggregate,”
Journal of Civil Engineering (IEB), vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 43-52, 2009.
crushed brick as aggregate,” Concrete International, vol. 5, no. 2, pp.
58-63, 1983.
[3] A. R Khaloo, “Properties of concrete using crushed clinker brick as
coarse aggregate,” ACI Materials Journal, vol. 91, no. 2, pp. 401-407,
1994.
[4] M. A. Mansur, T. H. Wee, and L. S. Cheran,. “Crushed bricks as coarse
aggregate for concrete,” ACI Materials Journal, vol. 96, no. 4, pp.
478-484, 1999.
[5] P. B. Cachim, “Mechanical properties of brick aggregate concrete,”
Construction and Building Materials, vol. 23, pp. 1292-1297, 2009.
[6] F. Debieb and S. Kenai “ The use of coarse and fine crushed bricks as
aggregate in concrete,” Construction and Building Materials, vol 22,
pp.886-893, 2008.
[7] F. M. Khalaf and A. S. DeVenny, “Performance of brick aggregate
concrete at high temperatures,” Journal of Materials in Civil
Engineering, ASCE, vol. 16, no 6, pp. 556-565, 2004.
Gopinandan Dey is an assistant professor of NIT
Agartala. He was born in 1972. He obtained the B.E
degree in civil engineering from Tripura Engineering
College under Tripura University, India in 1994 and
M.Tech Degree in Structural engineering from NIT
Agartala, India in 2010. He is awarded with Gold
Medal in M.Tech. His field of research interest lies in
concrete technology.
He has a long stint of experience over 16 years as an
A h ’ f l academician and Engineer. He has publication in
International Journal in the field of concrete technology. He attended many
conferences in India and abroad.
Joyanta Pal is an assistant professor of NIT Agartala.
He was born in 1974.He obtained the B.Tech degree in
civil engineering from Regional Enginnering College
Hamirpur, India in 1997 and M.Tech Degree in
structural engineering from NIT Agartala, India in
2010. His field of research interest lies in concrete
technology.
He has a long stint of experience over 10 years as an
academician and Engineers.

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